Roger Federer vs Tomas Berdych Miami Masters 2017 Preview

Roger Federer looks to keep his 8 match winning streak going in Thursday’s day session at the Miami Open and looks likely to do so with Tomas Berdych up in the quarter finals for the No.4 seed. There is an opportunity for a blockbuster semi final between Federer and Nick Kyrgios if both win, which Indian Wells missed out on thanks to Kyrgios falling ill before the match.

Much of Federer’s dominance during this 8 match winning streak has been down to him dominating on serve and not even facing break points, never mind actually giving up breaks of serve. In his 7-6 7-6 win over Roberto Bautista Agut, he was broken once in each set by the Spaniard. The first of these was at 4-4 in the first but a Federer break to love would be the first step on the way to the 15th and 16th sets consecutively won. Federer did admit he was not at his best in this victory. “I just think it was tough to find the perfect rhythm, you know. Some day sessions it’s tough. I said it. The sun was coming in from the side. I think Roberto was doing a nice job keeping me off balance to some extent.” he said.

Meanwhile, Berdych has avoided any early slipups in Miami after his surprise loss to Yoshihito Nishioka at Indian Wells. Wins over Andrey Rublev, Gilles Muller and Adrian Mannarino were comfortable for the Czech thanks to some big serving with only Mannarino managing a break of serve.

At No. 14, Berdych is at his lowest spot in the rankings since May 2010. A title would move him back into the top 10 but that looks unlikely with the way that Federer has been playing these past 2 tournaments. Berdych troubled Federer a lot in the early ’10s but has not had it good in more recent times, losing 6 straight and winning just one set overall as Federer extended the head to head back to 17-6.

Prediction – Roger Federer in straight sets

You Love Tennis Right...

Join the Stevegtennis.com tennis club for free. Just enter your email below for...